The Well: Creative Restoration Retreat
In the cold heart of winter, we gather in the warm heart of the Sonoran Desert for four days of creative nourishment, inspiration, and camaraderie. The 2026 Retreat happens over a long weekend in February, with dates to be announced. Our site is the historic Shankle Ranch: a gracious, white-adobe guest ranch on 180 acres, in a gentle, warm, beautiful valley near the beloved art village of Tubac, Arizona.
The time is a balance of room to rest & rejuvenate, explore, create, laugh, and receive support. The sole purpose of this retreat is to replenish and strengthen each participant's bright, knowing, intuitive, creative life-force. And in that spirit, each day has these pillars:
-
A morning workshop that incorporates playful, creative, generative exercises that strengthen trust, awareness, and creative expression. We use tools from Storytelling, Performance, Creative Writing, and Applied Improvisation traditions.
-
A 1-hour partner session with focus on your creative project or callings.
-
Three healthy, beautiful meals prepared by a beloved local chef.
-
Plenty of open time to write, reflect, swim, get a massage, take a hike, visit art galleries, nap!
-
An evening story-circle (no prep necessary).
-
Enough time, quiet, and comfort to sleep well.
A sample schedule is below.
The gathering is again limited to 12 people, to insure balance and a comfortable group dynamic. This small number means there is something of a selection process, but nothing rigorous. If you have attended before, you're invited again. If we haven't met before (or in a while), I'll invite you to a Zoom conversation where we can connect and see if the retreat serves your purposes well.
Historically, this retreat has been all women, only because that's who has signed up. In 2026, we hope to offer two retreats: one for women+, and one for all genders.
"This retreat is clearly the culmination of decades of work, bringing people into alignment with their innate creative life force. It was a gift to witness and be a part of."
Lindsay Muscato, Tech Editor for TIME Magazine
"...He told me how a friend of his once heard a whole sky full of stars when she was seven. And later on when she was eighty three she heard a cactus blooming in the dark. The old man said, "Most people never hear those things at all." I said, "I wonder why." He said, "They just don't take the time you need for something that important."
- from The Other Way to Listen by Byrd Baylor
